LAKERS NOTEBOOK: Kobe Bryant passes on love of history

It gave him a sense as a child of how to study the greats before him. As Bryant continuously cements a 17-year legacy that spans five NBA championships, two Finals MVPS and a fifth-place standing on the league's all-time scoring list, the history provides a gauge as to where he stands among the elite. Such perspective also enhances Bryant's foreshadowing on the league's future.

When the Lakers (9-10) play the Oklahoma City Thunder (15-4) tonight at Chesapeake Energy Arena, Bryant will go against speedy UCLA product Russell Westbrook and scoring machine Kevin Durant and see mirror images of himself.

"They just don't give a (hoot)," Bryant said. "That's really it. Not too many players have had that. Michael (Jordan) had it. I had it. Durant has it. Westbrook has it. They just don't care about pressure situations or criticism."

Does Bryant sense those players learned that mentality after seeing him play?

"For sure," he said. "They watched me growing up and saw how I dealt with criticism and all this other stuff. I just put my head down and kept playing ... They're cut from the same cloth."

Bryant seemed reflective following the Lakers' win Wednesday night over the New Orleans Hornets, in which he became the youngest player in NBA history at 34 years and 105 days old to score more than 30,000 points. Currently at 30,016 career points, Bryant joins an esteemed cast of players who have reached that plateau, including three other Lakers. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38.387), Karl Malone (36,928), Jordan (32,292) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) have scored more points.

As he thought about the players above him on the all-time scoring list, Bryant conceded there's one particular player he studied to hone that winning-at-all-costs mindset.

"Michael was the only one," Bryant said. "I'd constantly look at myself and wonder if this is the right way to be. This is just how I am. Then, the more I got to know Michael and the more he and I talked, the more I started seeing a lot of similarities in that department. I must be on the track."

Bryant has had similar conversations with Durant and Westbrook.

The three played together in the 2011 All-Star Game, in which Bryant collected his fourth MVP trophy. In the 2012 All-Star Game, Durant and Westbrook marveled at how Bryant played through a mild concussion after Miami guard Dwyane Wade delivered an inadvertent elbow. Durant, Westbrook and Bryant teamed together again in the 2012 London Olympics.

After practice Thursday, Durant affectionately described Bryant as an "old fart."

"Since I was about 8 years old, I watched him dominate. Every year he's been in the league, he's been a joy to watch," Durant said. "It's great to have somebody to kind of aim to and look up to and just compete against at a high level."

After the top-seeded Lakers survived a six-game first-round series against the Thunder in the 2010 playoffs, Bryant predicted then that they'd give him problems in the future. Oklahoma City then unseated the Lakers in five games in the 2012 Western Conference semifinals. That's why Bryant described tonight's game as a "good benchmark for everybody in the West."

Though Bryant leads the league in scoring at 28 points per game, Durant trails slightly at 26.5 points per game. Durant won last year's scoring title and became a stronger focal point of the offense on this year's Olympic team. Westbrook, whom the Thunder picked fourth overall in the 2008 draft, has progressed in mixing his speed with better decision making.

Hence, Bryant has scaled back his advice.

"I haven't talked to them much this summer," Bryant said. "I feel like they already know enough."

Still, with Bryant describing Durant and Westbrook as "throwbacks," the Lakers guard says he feels gratified he provided a framework for them to become the league's next torchbearers.

"You feel proud about it because you feel you leave the game in good hands," Bryant said. "You've done more than just score points and win championships. But you helped lead the next generation."

Injury update

The Lakers consider forward Pau Gasol a game-time decision tonight against Oklahoma City. He's missed the past two games because of tendinitis in both knees Lakers forward Antawn Jamison twisted his left ankle Wednesday against New Orleans, but is expected to play against the Thunder.